Thailand News
Thailand news, politics, business, crime, and lifestyle—get breaking updates from Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and beyond. Stay informed on Thai society, economy, tourism, and expat life with The Thaiger.
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Sponsored The 5 most common travel emergencies in Thailand and how to be prepared
Thailand is a popular destination known for its dynamic culture, stunning beaches, and bustling cities however, travellers can face unexpected travel emergencies that include medical issues, road accidents, petty theft, and natural disasters. To ensure a safe and enjoyable trip,...
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Nakhon Phanom airport seeks 120 million baht for expansion
Nakhon Phanom International Airport is seeking 120 million baht from the government for the next fiscal year hoping to add two more runways and expand is departures building. Nakhon Phanom is in the Kingdom’s far north-east, right on the Laotian border. Prom Meeker, the airport director, says the airport needs 91 million baht to expand the departures building to accommodate 600…
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Celebrities quizzed over endorsement and ads for dodgy cosmetic company
Over 50 presenters of commercials and videos for cosmetic products and food supplements of the Magic Skin Group are being summoned by police for interrogation. 56 actors and actresses were hired as presenters to promote and endorse products from the Magic Skin Group, adding that police would question them to find out whether they were aware or not that the…
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More robberies from tourists in Ao Nang, Krabi
A robber, identified as a French tourist, 32 year old Martinez Joyce, was arrested in Ao Nang, Krabi, after stealing a purse containing 42,000 Baht cash inside. Police received a report from 30 year old Assaman Yeesam on April 18 that he forgot his Balenciaga bag with 42,000 Baht cash in a coffee shop in Ao Nang where he was…
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Jack Ma opens the door to Thailand’s markets
To the people sitting in the audience it looked like Jack Ma had pulled off a piece of modern day wizardry, selling 80,000 Thai durians in 60 seconds. Gone in 60 seconds indeed! His much publicised visit to Thailand and meetings with the Thai PM and other ministers, signing of MOUs and various media appearances have drawn awe as well…
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Two killed and five seriously injured in Songkhla road crash
Two have been killed and another five seriously injured after a pickup truck crashed into a motorcycle with a sidecar and turned over in Songkhla province yesterday (April 22). Quoting eyewitness accounts, Singha Nakhon district police said that the sidecar was carrying five people from the same family, including the driver, when it tried to make a U-turn to the…
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Thais likely to pay more for health under new reforms
A part of of the country’s upcoming national healthcare reform, Thais will definitely have to pay more for any extra medical services or medicines they want. Dr Seree Tuchinda, who heads the national healthcare reform committee, says, “for example, if you want medicines that are not on the national drug list, you will be charged.” Seree said the reform will…
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Nigerian arrested as police track down ‘romance scam’ gang
PHOTOS: The Nation Tourist police are hunting for conspirators in a “romance scam” gang after they arrested a 32 year old Nigerian who allegedly lured a Thai woman in Lampang province into wiring him nearly 100,000 baht. Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakparn from the Tourist Police Bureau says that the suspect, Emery Henry Ogba, was a member of a gang believed…
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Big increases in BKK airport arrivals for 2018 Songkran
Nearly 7 percent additional passengers flew into Suvarnabhumi Airport and 12 percent into Don Mueang this year to celebrate the Songkran festival, compared to last year’s passenger traffic. The Immigration Bureau deputy spokesman Pol Colonel Choengron Rimpadee says that 683,260 passengers arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport from April 12 and 16. “The number marks a 6.96 per cent increase from Songkran 2017.…
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Foreigners detained in Pattaya sex orgy raid
PHOTO: Siamchon News More raids in Pattaya after police and authorities raided a ‘sex party’ being held at a hotel allegedly managed by a 53 year old Chinese man. Local police, immigration officers and Tourist Police carried out the raid after reports that the 30 room hotel located in the Nong Prue area was being used to host sex and…
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Thailand for the Trump/Kim Summit. Why not?
US President Donald Trump and North Korea premier and dear leader Kim Jong-un are going to have an historic summit. But they need somewhere to meet – somewhere neutral, somewhere safe, somewhere where there’s good food, somewhere both parties will agree to. Trump/Kim Issue #1 – Where to hold the meeting. Now Thailand’s Deputy PM Gen Prawit Wongsuwon has stepped up…
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Reform committee might go for complete rewrite of National Police Bill
Thailand’s police are under the spotlight. Along with many other aspects of long-existing work cultures, the Thai police culture is now coming under scrutiny from both ends – the NCPO who want real change and opposition forces who see the Thai police as facilitators of much of the country’s corruption problems. The country’s law reform committee has been tackling the…
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121 arrested over BKK bike mods
Police have arrested 121 motorcyclists picked up on the streets of the capital last night (Friday). They’ve been charged with illegally modifying their motorcycles for road racing. Deputy Tourist Police commissioner Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal said the suspects were arrested at checkpoints on major roads under the jurisdiction of 11 police stations of Metropolitan Police Division 8. According to police,…
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How many Thai durians can Alibaba sell in one minute?
Thai durian sold like hot cakes after Jack Ma showed the magic of e-commerce during his visit to Thailand by selling 80,000 golden pillow durians on his online platform T-mall within one minute. One minute! While Ma was in Thailand to make a mega-deal on investment on Thursday, Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong gifted the founder of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba…
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2 killed, 30 injured in Nakhon Sawan bus accident
PHOTOS: Facebook/NSN.Rescue Songkran might be over but the carnage continues. Two passengers have been killed and an estimated 30 have been injured. Five are reported to be in serious condition. The tour bus from Mae Sot heading for for Bangkok skidded off the road and plunged into a roadside ditch in Nakhon Sawan early yesterday (Friday). Rescue workers pulled all…
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Four bull sharks sighted off beach south of Hua Hin
Four bull sharks have been sighted in the sea near Khao Tao, near Wat Tham Khao Tao, about ten kilometres south of Hua Hin, by authorities conducting searches with patrol boats and drones. Thipamas Upnoi, the director of the Marine and Coastal Resources and Development Centre at the Central Gulf of Thailand says the operation started yesterday and has so…
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The ‘dirty’ coffee from Vietnam contains manganese dioxide
PHOTO: Dak Nong Police Further to yesterday’s revelation about fake coffee being manufactured and sold from a make-shift factory in Vietnam, this analysis from a Chemist at the Vietnam National University. Associate Professor Tran Hong Con, a chemistry expert from the Vietnam National University, says the black substance found in D batteries is a toxic chemical called manganese dioxide. Manganese dioxide…
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Officials seize 12 tonnes of fake ‘coffee’ laced with hazardous materials
Here’s something to contemplate next time you’re about to enjoy your next caffeine-fix. Vietnam’s Tuoi Tre News daily newspaper is reporting that a family-run coffee producer in Vietnam’s Dak Nong province has been caught manufacturing coffee laced with harmful ingredients from used batteries, dirt and rock dust and black dye. Vietnamese authorities say they seized about 12 tonnes of dangerous…
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Police make two arrests over travel scams
The owner of a Thai tour company has been arrested for deceiving 33 tourists left abandoned in Osaka, Japan last February. Tourist Police deputy chief Pol Maj Gen Surachet Hakpal says that 35 year old Sonthaya Phosri had been arrested the day before under a warrant issued by the Thonburi district court. He was charged with cheating 33 Thai tourists…
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Close the beach, put up signs. Hua Hin tackles a one-in-2-million chance.
Shark prevention measures will be introduced in the resort town of Hua Hin after a Norwegian tourist was bitten by a bull shark, even though a marine biologist says there was only a one-in-2-million chance of someone being attacked by a shark. Prachuap Khiri Khan’s deputy governor Chotnarin Kerdsom has confirmed what experts have already validated – a Norwegian tourist…
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66 more foreigners arrested in nationwide crackdown
FILE PHOTO: The Nation Tourist police have arrested 66 more foreigners during crackdowns around the country last night (Wednesday). Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal, deputy tourist police chief spoke whilst in Soi Cowboy off Sukhumvit Road early this morning to announce the results of the operation. He said 11 foreigners were arrested for overstaying their visas and 51 others for unlawfully…
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2018 Songkran road toll total up on last year
This year’s Songkran “Seven Dangerous Days counted an appalling toll of 418 people dying on Thailand’s roads compared to last year’s 390. The figures were recorded by the Road Safety Centre said yesterday. The figures follow an ‘all out’ attempt by the Government and police to reduce the carnage on Thai roads over the Songkran break. This year also saw a…
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Passenger nearly gets sucked out of broken Southwest Airlines 737 window
A Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 took off from LaGuardia Airport at 10:27am and landed in Philadelphia about 11:23am. The Boeing 737 was heading to Dallas with 144 passengers and five crew members. For the first 20 minutes, everything seemed calm. Then “a loud boom” suddenly jolted the plane according to passenger Marty Martinez. In what appears to be a turbine blade…
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Russian robber in Krabi arrested for stealing iPhone X
Police have arrested a 34 year old Russian man, Aleksei Posysaev, today (April 18) after he stole an iPhone X from a clothes shop in Ao Nang, Krabi. Earlier, the clothes shop owner, Netdao Wiwatratsamee, posted the CCTV footage of the robbery on social media and offered a 5,000 Baht reward to whoever leads to the robber and his family…
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M comes to your Facebook Messenger
“M” is Jame’s Bond’s boss. But starting today, M is also an AI smart assistant embedded in Facebook Messenger in Thailand. Artificial intelligence and intuitive technology are becoming increasingly popular in new Apps and updates. Initially launched in April last year in the US, M has been providing people with suggestions, enriching the way people interact on the Messenger App.…
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“You’ve got a better chance of winning the lottery,” Dr Thon Thamrongnawasawat
Screenshot from Dr. Thon’s video Dr. Thon Thamrongnawasawat of the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University, Bangkok says you have a bigger chance of winning the lottery or being run down by a charging buffalo than being bitten by a shark in Thailand. Dr. Thon’s message was loud and clear – don’t worry about sharks. Not to mention Thai roads and…
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300,000 baht stolen – 5,000 baht reimbursed
FILE PHOTO Thai Channel 7 TV is reporting a story about safes being removed from hotel rooms in Bangkok last Friday. According to the story there were two safes removed from the Sukhumvit road hotels, along with 300,000 baht, passports and documents. But, according to the law, the hotel were only obliged to reimburse the victims 5,000 baht in compensation.…
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“Norwegian tourist bitten by a bull shark,” Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Centre
A fisheries expert claims the tourist that was bitten over the weekend by something off beaches south of Hua Hin, was attacked by a bull shark, a shark which can be found in warm and shallow water in the Gulf of Thailand. Earlier story HERE. Watchara Sakornwimon, a veterinarian of the Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development Centre, says…
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National drug crackdown nets drugs worth 320 million baht
Police seized a large haul of narcotics with a street value of 320 million baht from 101 suspects in 88 drug busts during March 28-April 17. The crime-suppression operations overlapped the Songkran holidays, deputy national police chief Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakhan told a press conference in Bangkok yesterday (Tuesday). Besides confiscating 255 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, over 170,000 methamphetamine pills,…
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Prawit denies any health problems
Deputy PM and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan is denying having any health problems. “I am not ill, as you can see now,” said Prawit, who is in charge of the government’s security affairs. During the long Songkran holidays there had been media reports quoting PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha, that his deputy was ill and had received treatment for heart…
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Belarusian prostitute has her day in BKK court
Anastasia Vashukevich, the Belarusian model and self-branded sex-guru detained in Bangkok, who made extravagant claims about alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election, is due in court today. She has offered to dump on several Russian businessmen linked with Russian President Putin with alleged links to US businessmen and politicians close to the US President. Anastasia Vashukevich, AKA Nastya Rybka, was…
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